Stay tuned as we update you on the latest exciting news from the Hartman Lab.
From publications, lab member updates, and participation in conferences, we will update you regularly here.
The Hartman Lab at Tissue, Matrix, and Pathobiology: Joint Meeting of ASMB, HCS, and ASIP
October 22-25, 2023
Dr. Hartman and Kaitlan Sullivan attended the Tissue, Matrix, and Pathobiology meeting in Salt Lake City, UT and presented our work in C. elegans. Dr. Hartman gave a talk on the use of C. elegans as a model for host-pathogen interactions in a special session co-organized by Dr. Mindy Engevik and her PhD student Taylor Ticer. Kaitlan gave an excellent poster highlighting her Masters thesis work studying the pathogenicity of Acinetobacter calcoaceticus in C. elegans. It was our first time attending this meeting and we loved it!
Huge news for the Hartman Lab from the National Institutes of Health
October 16, 2023
Over here at the Hartman Lab, we are overwhelmed with gratitude for two new grant awards from the NIH. First, the Maximizing Investigators’ Research Award for Early Stage Investigators from NIGMS, titled “Regulation and Consequences of Cytochrome P450 2E1”, where we will dive deeply into the mechanisms of CYP2E1 activity with a special focus on extrahepatic (outside the liver) expression and try to answer fundamental questions about why and how CYP2E1 is targeted to mitochondria vs. endoplasmic reticulum, and the outcomes of that protein targeting in cells.
Second, the Stephen Katz Early Stage Investigator R01 from NIAAA, where we are asking how CYP2E1 expression in the brain impacts the behavioral response and molecular consequences of acute and chronic alcohol consumption.
Both of these grants will leverage C. elegans, mice, cell culture, and human samples to tackle these exciting and important questions. We are absolutely over the moon excited for the support and opportunity to carry out this work.
The Hartman Lab hosts Benjamin Deaton for the Summer 2023 SURP program
August 10, 2023
Phew – just like that, the summer came and went. We were thrilled to have Benjamin join us this summer for the 10-week intensive research SURP program at MUSC. He worked on a collaborative project with Dr. Tim Barnoud studying the mitochondria-localized HSP70 in liver cells, cancer tissues, and worms! His project was a whirlwind of excellent data that will be launching a new collaboration between the Hartman and Barnoud labs.
Also, not for nothing, he got 1st place in our Putt Putt game 🙂
Congratulations Benjamin and thanks for an awesome summer!
Welcome to new lab members Kristina and Hyland!
June 30, 2023
A warm welcome to the newest members of the lab, PhD students Hyland Gonzalez and Kristina Stayer! Both have just finished the first year of their PhD program and now the thesis journey begins. 🙂 We are thrilled to have them join the team and to support them on their path to the PhD.
The Hartman Lab rocked SOT in Nashville, TN
March 17, 2023
The Annual Society of Toxicology conference was exciting as always, represented this year by undergraduate student Zaria Killingsworth, Jessica Hartman, and research specialist Kate Glorioso! Kate and Zaria both presented well-attended posters in the poster sessions and did an excellent job presenting their cutting-edge work in toxicology.
Zaria won 1st place the Undergraduate Award from Molecular and Systems Biology Specialty Section (thanks MSBSS <3). As a 1st place awardee, Zaria also gave a lightning talk at the reception where she highlighted her work with CYP2E1 and free fatty acids. Congratulations Zaria!
Excellent presentations and a lot of fun. Can’t wait for next year!
Welcome to new lab members Taia and Kate!
December 13, 2022
A belated welcome to our newest lab members, Kathryn (Kate) Glorioso and Tsultrim (Taia) Mendenhall. These two, featured in the holiday photo (left to right Taia, Kelly, Kate, and Jessica), are new technicians in the lab who are working on multiple projects and are both wonderful! Welcome to the Hartman lab, you two! We are so glad you are here.
Kaitlan Sullivan presents her host-pathogen work at the MAPS 2022 C. elegans meeting
July 14-17, 2022
Kaitlan presented her ongoing work studying pathogenesis of Acinetobacter calcoaceticus in C. elegans at the 2022 Metabolism, Aging, Pathogenesis, and Stress meeting in Madison, WI. Her poster was well-received by attendees and she did an excellent job in her presentation! Nice work, Kaitlan!
Congratulations to Hyland Gonzalez!
June 8, 2022
It’s official! Hyland has completed her time in the PREP program at MUSC. In a bittersweet end-of-year symposium, Hyland gave a wonderful presentation of her work alongside her impressive cohort of PREP students. Hyland’s work has demonstrated that ER- and mitochondria-localized CYP2E1 have distinct consequences for the neurological effects of ethanol. Her data will serve as the basis for ongoing work in the Hartman lab and will be published later this year. She is beginning as a PhD Student in the Biomedical Sciences program at MUSC this fall. We are so excited to see where her work takes her. Congratulations, Hyland!
Congratulations to Jasmin Johnson!
May 13, 2022
We are so proud to announce that Jasmin Johnson has been accepted to the highly competitive Masters of Biomedical Sciences program at Wake Forest University. She has been such a joy and pleasure to work with in the lab and will be missed by all, but we are so excited for her next steps and to follow her success as she moves on. Jasmin’s work showed that exercise can be beneficial to protect from neurotoxicity, but also can help recover neurons after a neurotoxic insult in worms. This is very exciting, and will be the basis of future studies in our lab. Congratulations, Jasmin!
Hartman lab presentations at Society of Toxicology
March 27-31, 2022
The Hartman lab attended the 61st annual meeting of the Society of Toxicology in beautiful San Diego, CA. Kelly, Elizabeth, Hyland, and Jasmin presented four excellent and well-received posters. Elizabeth received the extremely competitive and prestigious SOT Undergraduate Research Award, providing full support for her travel. Hyland received a generous travel award and 2nd place for Undergraduate Research in the Molecular and Systems Biology Specialty Section. And Jasmin received an honorable mention for the Undergraduate Research Award in the Molecular and Systems Biology Specialty Section. Thankful to SOT and MSBSS for the support, and so proud of the wonderful presentations from all four of them!
Welcome to new lab member Hyland Gonzalez
August 11, 2021
A belated but warm welcome to our newest addition to the lab, Hyland Gonzalez. Hyland is a part of MUSC’s prestigious and intensive PREP post-baccalaureate program, which she is completing before entering a Ph.D. program next fall. Her research in the lab will focus on how short- and long-term alcohol drinking changes alcohol metabolism in the brain, a collaborative project with Dr. Patrick Mulholland in the Charleston Alcohol Research Center. In her few spare moments when Hyland is not working in lab and working on grad school applications, Hyland likes to spend time with her roommates and explore Charleston. Welcome, Hyland! We are glad you are here!
Congratulations Elizabeth for highly successful SURP project wrap-up
August 9, 2021
It was bittersweet seeing Elizabeth Ampolini give an excellent presentation summarizing her work this summer studying polyploidy in C. elegans! She accomplished so much, and we hate to see her go. We had such a great time this summer and will miss startling her every time we enter the room! Good luck to Elizabeth for her senior year of college at NC State University, and we are thrilled to see where she ends up for grad school.
Welcome to new lab members Elizabeth Ampolini (SURP) and Jasmin Johnson (post-bac)
June 18, 2021
We are thrilled to welcome for the summer Elizabeth Ampolini, a Biochemistry student from NC State University, who is joining us through the Summer Undergraduate Research Program (SURP) at MUSC. Elizabeth is studying how stable tetraploidy alters the sensitivity of worms to chemotherapeutic drugs cisplatin and doxorubicin. When she’s not in lab, she’s wading through the floodwaters, hitting the gym, or hitting up Jenny’s Ice Cream downtown. Or maybe all three.
We are also very excited to report that Jasmin Johnson has returned to us as a full-time member of the lab. She recently graduated with her Bachelor’s degree in Biology from the College of Charleston. Jasmin is working on studying how swimming exercise alters dopaminergic neurons in worms and protects them from toxic exposures. In her free time, Jasmin enjoys weightlifting and exercising in general (which helps her relate to her research specimens) and spending time with family.
MUSC DDRCC supports Hartman lab with Pilot and Feasibility award to study the role of mitochondrial CYP2E1 in NAFLD
June 18, 2021
The Hartman lab was awarded a highly competitive Pilot and Feasibility award from the Digestive Disease Research Core Center at MUSC (NIDDK-supported P30 center) for a new project entitled, “Subcellular Targeting of CYP2E1 in Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease”. In this exciting project, we are using cutting edge imaging techniques with human liver tissue from patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease to determine important drivers that cause the disease to progress from early stages to late-stage irreversible disease. Together with our clinical collaborator, Dr. Cynthia Moylan (Duke University) and co-investigator Dr. John Lemasters (MUSC), we are thrilled to have the support to jumpstart this project.
Hartman Lab awarded pilot grant to study polyploidy in worms
January 4, 2021
The Hartman lab was awarded the prestigious Institutional Research Grant, a one-year award from American Cancer Society and the Hollings Cancer Center. The grant, entitled “The effects of tetraploidy on sphingolipid metabolism and chemosensitivity in C. elegans” uses a powerful new techniqueto create stable worm lines with tetraploid genomes. Using innovative tools available to study these worms, we hope to find new ways to identify and target resistant polyploid cancer cells and improve cancer treatments.
Welcome to our new research specialist, Kelly Misare!
September 15, 2020
The Hartman lab is welcoming a new member, beginning in October, Kelly Misare, who will be working on the exercise/neurotoxicity project. Very excited to have her on board!
Announcing the Hartman Lab at MUSC: Coming October 2020
We are absolutely thrilled to announce that the Hartman Lab will be coming to the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, SC. Dr. Jessica Hartman will be joining the department as an Assistant Professor and will be recruiting for graduate students, postdocs, and/or technicians. Please reach out if you are interested!